Offworld Trading Company

[Gandalf]

From the lead designer of Civilization IV (the best Civilization version IMO) comes a new and different sort of game. There's a map and you have resources, but wait, this is no RTS, you don't have any units you can control! Instead the aim is to buy out all your opponents. It's an economic simulator. The games take about 30 minutes, which as a parent with limited time, is nice. You have to buy & sell resource at the right time, claim land that will help you with your aims (should I claim that water tile? Or a rare carbon source?) and subtly attack each other using the black market (Pirates! Underground Nuke! Adrenaline Boost!!?!). You can also choose one of 4 races, each of which have their own benefits & drawbacks. eg whereas 3 of them need steel to construct things, the scavangers use carbon instead, which can be really useful, depending on the map you have.

Maybe I'm not giving the game the best sell ever. There are plenty of good reviews, and youTube play-throughs. I love numbers and dealing with them, so I thought it would be right up my street, and it sure is.

Saying all that, I think the full price for the game is a bit too steep. I picked it up in a recent Steam sale.